1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an image forming apparatus such as a copier, a printer, a facsimile machine, and a multifunction machine including at least two of these functions.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus with a scanner including a sheet stack part for stacking a recorded sheet inside a housing thereof is well known. Specifically, the upper surface of the apparatus body is used as the sheet stack part and the scanner reading an image is provided above the sheet stack part. Such an image forming apparatus has an advantage of having a small footprint.
This type of image forming apparatus is designed to be compact in width and height by overlapping the scanner and the sheet stack part as much as possible and reducing the space therebetween. However, when the scanner is placed above the sheet stack part, removal and visibility of the sheet is inevitably limited.
There is an image forming apparatus in which the scanner can slide relative to the apparatus body. By sliding the scanner, the sheet stack part is recognized through an opening on an upper supporting surface of an image recording part, and therefore visibility of the sheet is enhanced. However, a user needs to get his/her hand around the apparatus to remove the sheet. Therefore, sliding of the scanner does not improve removal of the sheet.
There is another image forming apparatus in which the scanner can slide for the purpose of replacing a toner bottle. However, this image forming apparatus is not designed to enhance visibility and removal of the sheet.
In addition, when the scanner is slid relative to the apparatus body, the scanner needs to be locked without any rattling movement.